(970) 927-9668
“Sketching is a big part of my process. That’s the main way I try out an idea. They are like notes for a story. I really enjoy that part of the process. It’s when I can simplify the concept down to its essence and try it. Many times the sketches are done from my head and that can be a scary place. Years of observation have given me the ability to recall a subject that I’ve experienced first-hand and then make it into a painting that has been filtered through that same scary head. It becomes mine.
A long-time resident of Silt, Colorado, Dan Young’s plein air impressions often depict beloved locations and pastimes of the West. Over the years Young has mastered the challenges posed by painting on location regardless of the season and has earned a reputation as one of Colorado’s premier landscape artists. From his plein air winter scenes dotted with fences, structures, or moonlight on irrigated fields, to the summer fly fishermen and towering mountain peaks of the Rocky Mountains, Young often captures the boundaries where nature meets man.
“The paintings I do on location are also sketches, but they are painted with a scene in mind. Yes, I change them to my liking to make stronger compositions or more interesting paintings. Painting from life is going to the source, and capturing the color values from life are one of the most important elements in my work. It’s all about gathering more knowledge and understanding of your subject from that first-hand observation. No filters–you and Mother Nature. Hopefully you dance well together.”
For more information about the oil paintings by Dan Young, please contact Ann Korologos Gallery at (970) 927-9668 or visit the gallery “under the clocktower” at 211 Midland Avenue, Basalt, Colorado.
